The Miami Heat will host the Chicago Bulls for the second consecutive year in a battle for the 8-seed in the Play-In Tournament, but this year’s edition will require Miami to get a win without their star, Jimmy Butler. Butler suffered a knee injury late in the first quarter of their 105-104 loss to the Sixers on Tuesday night, and while he stayed in the game and played through the finish, he was clearly not 100 percent and had a considerable limp afterwards. An MRI on Wednesday confirmed Butler had suffered an MCL sprain, and he will be out “several weeks,” meaning he will not be available fo ..read more

Getty Image The Philadelphia 76ers eked out a 105-104 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night to earn the 7-seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs and secure a first round series with the New York Knicks. That figures to be one of the most entertaining series of the first round, as we’ll see Jalen Brunson look to continue his incredible season against a Sixers team that had top-3 aspirations in the East derailed by injury but are now getting healthy at the right time. The series is a coin flip for many (including at the sportsbooks) and will be a really interesting test for both teams. Add ..read more

Getty Image Wednesday’s Play-In games in the East followed a similar script to those in the West, with a thrilling opener in the 7-8 game before an absolute rout in the 9-10 matchup. After the Sixers escaped with a win over the Heat in the opener, the Chicago Bulls lit up the extremely porous Atlanta Hawks defense en route to a 131-116 win to extend their season and send Atlanta into an offseason of uncertainty. The Bulls jumped out to a massive lead in the early going, taking a 40-22 lead after the first quarter. They met almost no resistance from Atlanta, with DeMar DeRozan setting the tone ..read more

Getty Image Jimmy Butler did not look like himself for much of the Miami Heat’s Play-In Tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. While Butler played 40 minutes, he never looked like he was able to shake a knee injury that he suffered in the waning moments of the first quarter when Kelly Oubre accidentally collided with his leg while trying to contest a shot. Jimmy Butler went down hard on this play and grabbed his knee. Hope he's okay pic.twitter.com/L0MTdWIDb0 — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 17, 2024 Butler was on the ground in serious pain, but managed to gut it ..read more

Getty Image The Philadelphia 76ers are heading to the NBA playoffs. While it wasn’t the prettiest win in franchise history, Philadelphia played host to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night and overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to pick up a 105-104 win in the 7-8 game of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament. Now, the Sixers will enter the postseason as the 7-seed, while the Heat still need to get their future all sorted out. The story of the first half was Philly’s inability to figure out Miami’s zone. The Heat decided to play a 2-3 that totally flummoxed the Sixers, even as Bam ..read more

ESPN/TNT Kendrick Perkins decided to engage in a little cross-network smack talk the other day when he called out Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal of TNT. During an appearance on The Michael Kay Show, Perkins was asked why the Hall of Fame inductees and longtime television commentators don’t believe in the Knicks, and said that the pair “don’t watch basketball” and “can’t watch basketball on a consistent basis.” This, unsurprisingly, did not go over especially well with the two Inside the NBA stars. At the end of Tuesday night’s broadcast, a tweet got both of them going on Perkins, with Sh ..read more

YouTube/Indiana Fever Caitlin Clark’s arrival in the WNBA as the top pick of the Indiana Fever is a major moment for the league. Where Clark goes, attention follows, as she has transcended sports into being a well-known figure in popular culture beyond just basketball fans. For the Fever and the WNBA, it’s incumbent on them to capitalize on that attention and make sure the league’s product can shine and get the attention it deserves. However, the attention also means a lot more people coming in looking for access and it will also be important for the league and team to help Clark handle the pi ..read more

Getty Image Did you know that Beyoncé is a hardcore South Carolina Gamecocks fan? Apparently, she watched and supported the Dawn Staley-coached team all the way through the NCAA Women’s basketball tournament with her family and enjoyed them so much, she sent Staley a bouquet of flowers to commemmorate the team’s historic, undefeated season and championship win. Staley shared “a video thank you” to Beyoncé as she showed off the gift — which included Cowboy Carter merchandise, naturally — and read the card.”If you know, you know,” she said. To Coach Staley and the entire South Carolina Gamecock ..read more

Getty Image The New Orleans Pelicans came incredibly close to the 7-seed in the Western Conference on Tuesday night, losing 110-106 at home to the Lakers. The Pelicans erased a double-digit deficit and clawed their way back into a tie game in the fourth quarter thanks to a tremendous performance from Zion Williamson. The at times maligned forward put forth arguably the best game of his career, scoring 40 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Unfortunately for New Orleans, that was four minutes too few, as he suffered an injury that forced him to leave the game in the fou ..read more

Getty Image After moving through the early years of legalized sports betting relatively unscathed from controversy, the NBA had its first big betting scandal arrive late in March courtesy of Jontay Porter. Some questionable prop betting activity on Porter in two games in which he removed himself with an injury or illness raised red flags and launched an NBA investigation that ultimately resulted in Porter being given a lifetime ban from the league. The NBA found Porter knowingly gave bettors information regarding his health status and then made sure he played in the games to ensure his prop be ..read more